I know I promised photos from our trip to Horicon, and I finally went through them, and there are some good ones. But it got too late... again... so tomorrow. Tonight I will just blog about today. Travalon and I went to Mass at our usual church, and once again there were eight of us at brunch (not exactly the same eight people), so once again we were there for two hours. Finally we had to ask for the bill so that Travalon and I could go to Sauk for the rosary I'd put on layaway. The antiques shop had called while we were at Horicon Marsh to say that they had another Stanhope Rosary, and it's very similar to the one I already got there some years ago, plus it's missing one of the viewing windows, so I said I'd have to think about it. They still want a fortune for it, even though it's in rougher shape. I did get two other rosaries, and this blue ring (the one on the right):
Cali wanted to meet us at the Good Neighbor Fest in Middleton, and that was right on our way home from Sauk, so we stopped there. Travalon got some photos of old gas stations, and I got two pairs of earrings. I had to hurry home, because this evening there was another slow Irish session.
I left a little early so I could get to the Slow Irish Session before it started so I could get a smoothie, but of course I got caught behind a long, slow train and got there just before it started. Last month our whole band had gone, but this time I was the only one representin' until Hardingfele showed up at least fifteen minutes into the session. Maybe that's why the leader kept saying, "Famous, this is one of your songs, so why don't you lead it?" instead of "Famous and Hardingfele." Our band had provided some more songs for the group to do, and today we did "Give Me Your Hand" and "Salmon Tails Up the River." I knew about a third of the songs we did, but the ones I didn't know were quite a challenge. I sat between a hammer dulcimer player who was a bit older than I am and who said she had learned all the songs by ear, and a much younger fiddler who also said she had learned all the songs by ear. Hardingfele "cheated" and used music, but I stubbornly tried to play the songs by ear, and it was very humbling! The funny thing is that I had asked Travalon, Rich, and the woman who sold me the earrings at the Good Neighbor Fest if I should bring the violin or the mandolin, and they all said the mandolin. I was kind of in a violin groove after our Ukrainian gig, but am I glad that I listened to everyone, because the mandolin is much quieter, so people couldn't hear me screwing up. Maybe once I know the tunes better, I'll bring the violin. The fiddler next to me says she has been coming for a year now, so that may be why she knows the tunes so much better. She agreed with me that the first time through is awful, then the second time you think you're getting it, and the third time you're so close... and then they only play through it three times. This time we had quite an audience, and they applauded every time we finished a tune, no matter how shaky it was. However, there were less players.
At the end of the session, I said to the fiddler next to me, "I never introduced myself. I'm Famous." She said, "I'm Famous too. So every time the leader looked over at us and said, 'Famous, this is your tune, so why don't you lead it?' I just about had a heart attack, but then I realized you must be Famous too." I also introduced myself to the hammer dulcimer player on the other side of me, and she lives in Florida but is visiting her sister up here. I also met a guy who has a big mandolin with five courses instead of four, which he says is called a cittern, and he asked if I was going to go to any of the other local Irish sessions. I said I didn't think I was ready, since the slow one was challenging enough, but he said they're very nice and won't care if you don't know what you're doing. Then Hardingfele said, "We should try the Fast Irish Session," so maybe we should look into that, but she could be in for a rude awakening if they don't let you use sheet music at the other sessions. Of course it's easy for her, reading the music. Let's see how easy it is for her when she's doing it the real Irish way...
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